McGill Dobson Chronicles

Editor’s Note:Jeff Speak has been a judge during the McGill Dobson Cup and a supporter of the McGill Dobson Centre since the beginning. He’s a serial entrepreneur who has founded and built 4 successful technology businesses to date. Cimpl is his current focus which is Canada’s leader in telecom and IT expense management, and consistently recognized as a Canadian Top 50 Employer in Canada.

Jeff received his graduate training in accounting from McGill University and has further certifications from the London School of Business and Harvard University.

I didn’t understand the importance of a mentor in university but now, every idea I have I validate through these people.

Jeff Speak (bottom right) was a Dobson Cup judge during the Finals, alongside the likes of Rubin Gruber, Steven Kokinos, and Luce Veilleux.

Q: Who are the people that you hang out with most and what impact have they had on you?

A: I didn’t understand the importance of that or even know what a mentor was in university, but now I have them. Every idea I have I validate through these people.

1. I have a very close mentor who’s invested in every business I’ve ever been in – really, he’s invested in me. Everything I do, he has skin in the game. But more importantly, it’s a friendship, and it’s all about sharing knowledge. He’s a very successful person and he’s shared a lot of ideas with me and pushed me to further my education after university because learning constantly is crucial.

2. I’m also a part of this global organization called YPO (Young Presidents Association), which is centered around creating better leaders through education and idea exchange. So we all get together once a month and talk. You can be completely honest: you can say you’re scared, that you don’t know what you’re doing, or ask for advice about your situation. There’s no pressure, there’s nothing to gain from presenting yourself as something you’re not – you just want the best for each other.

3. And of course, my wife. She’s my partner in life. She’s a surgeon, which has nothing to do with business, but we communicate: I know everything about her surgeries, and she knows everything about my businesses. She knows me because she’s been listening to me for 30 years, and so she knows how to steer me in the right direction and tell me what I need to hear.

Q: Do you remember a significant scene from your past that has impacted who you’ve become?

A: Along your life’s trajectory there are these little stars – people intervene. Someone takes you aside and tells you they see something in you. A few teachers from Loyola High School did that for me. One of them told me they saw an entrepreneur in me. I look at those kinds of moments, and I’m grateful they did that because without them telling me that I might never have known it myself.

When I was younger, I had a bigger ego and didn’t think I had to listen to anyone. As I’ve gotten older, the definition of wisdom to me is the ability to listen.

The McGill Dobson Cup, powered by National Bank and hosted by the McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship, is McGill’s flagship annual startup competition.

Q: What would you like to see more of in the business world? This could be an approach, an industry, or anything else.

A: I’d like to see more women in leadership positions. We’re fighting that battle brick by brick now, and we’re definitely going to see a better world and better business outcomes if we can make it happen. If you look at the workforce it may seem 50/50, but if you look at upper management it’s not even close – that has to be rebalanced.

Q: What’s your go-to system for decision-making and execution?

A: Listening. When I was younger, I had a bigger ego and didn’t think I had to listen to anyone. As I’ve gotten older, the definition of wisdom to me is the ability to listen. You become wiser when you don’t talk. By listening, you can get more data points to help you make your decisions.

Q: How have you continued your learning after college?

A: Reading. I specifically like biographies about businesspeople, politicians, athletes, and leaders. I prefer real stories about the challenges people faced as opposed to business theory.

In the lead up to announcing the winners, for this year’s startup competition, we had 84 teams compete in the SemiFinals with the top 40 teams competing in the Finals on March 28, 2018.

Over $100 000 in total was awarded to the most promising McGill startups across the four tracks: Social Enterprise, Health Sciences, Small & Medium Enterprise, and Innovation Driven Enterprise in this year’s McGill Dobson Cup.

We would like to thank all the Semi-Finals and Finals Judges and Mentors who contributed towards making this year’s McGill Dobson Cup 2018 a resounding success. Our goal at the McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship is to continue building world-class entrepreneurs at McGill.

Congratulations to all the winning teams listed below and a sincere thank you to all teams who participated in this year’s McGill Dobson Cup. For all of you, this is only the beginning. Seed funding is only part of the equation for success, and even then, success is not guaranteed. The rest is made up of having excellent product-market fit, driven by a great team with entrepreneurial hustle and drive, and connected to a growing network of mentors and partners, to help your company move forward.

Now the hard work of building your respective companies begin. We wish all of you the best with your entrepreneurial journeys!

Social Enterprise Track 2018 Award Winners

A Social Enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximizing profits for external shareholders. Social enterprises differ in that they do not aim to offer any benefit to their investors, except where they believe that doing so will ultimately further their capacity to realize their social and environmental goals. Social enterprises can take many forms, for-profit, non-profit or a hybrid.

Startups in the Health Sciences (HS) Track build primarily on research and technology in the sciences of biology, chemistry, physics, medicine and dentistry as well as a variety of multidisciplinary fields to improve health, prevent and cure diseases, and understand how humans and animals function. It focuses on the design and evaluation of medical, technological, behavioural and organizational interventions as well as the application of that knowledge to improve health and patient centred health care, and to ultimately improve the quality of life.

The Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) Track is for those startups that likely are started by an individual or group to serve a local market. Size may vary and SME entrepreneurs are those that may value personal independence, cash-flow and lifestyle over exponential growth. The jobs that they create are generally non-tradable meaning that they cannot be outsourced. A distinct feature of an SME startup is that they mainly focus on local markets.

1st Place SME track $10,000 –ENTR – Rent unique venues for your upcoming events & book everything you need in one place

Innovation Driven Enterprise (IDE) Track startups generally build their business upon a technology, science or idea that will give them a significant or radically disruptive advantage compared to their peers. They endeavour to service markets that are non-local (global or regional). More time and capital is generally required versus SME enterprises, as exponential growth is sought to eventually serve global markets.

Murdoch Family Initiative 2018 Award Winner ($6,000) – Opportutoring: provides refugees with free one-to-one online English tutoring to open up their opportunities in their country of relocation.

This award was generously established by Neil Murdoch (BCom 1981) and his wife Giselle Murdoch to support students who take the initiative to gain practical experience by way of creative or entrepreneurial endeavors.

AvMor Prize for Social Responsibility ($1,900) – Opportutoring

This award was established by Avi Morrow (chairman of Avmor Ltd), as an award for the best business plan submitted in the McGill Dobson Cup by an undergraduate student on behalf of a nonprofit organization.

If you want to work on your business full-time but are worried about dropping out, we’ll show you how.. We’ll also be looking at how you can find your first 10 customers, and how you can stay healthy by eating the same breakfast everyday.

I made one post on the McGill jobs page, and I’ve been flooded with so many requests that I had to delete the post”

After inexpensively testing his idea in the summer of 2016, Southern Ontario native Martin Stuart quickly realized that there was untapped potential in the housing market. The idea was to pair up people who are leaving their apartment for the summer, with people who’ll manage renting it out for them: it’s a win-win.

In the 2-sided platform he was building, he was able to find his first batch of customers on both sides through Facebook groups. On the property side, he had no issues finding people. “It’s a common problem that students have”, Martin explains.

On the manager side, he had a problem – the kind you want to have.

“I made one post on the McGill jobs page, and I’ve been flooded with so many requests that I had to delete the post”, he recalls.

PairUp: Landlord-friendly short-term rentals

So what is this startup that has Martin’s inbox flooded with messages?

Simply put, it’s subletting 2.0, and you don’t have to do a thing – it’s all managed. Oh, and one more thing.

You can make up to $4,000 per month by letting them manage your home, all summer long.

PairUp is a better option than subletting your apartment over the summer: sign up at pairup.io.

“You can sublet your place for 4 months and it’s totally possible that someone’s put a keg through the wall and smoked weed everyday”, Martin says. “You have no security deposit and that person’s not liable for your lease. It’s a better option than subletting because you have mandatory security deposits, weekly cleanings and check-ins, and professional management.”

PairUp connects Airbnb managers with people whose apartments are going to be empty for a while.

“So if you’re going away for the summer, you can register with us, and I’d hook you up with a manager who’d put your apartment up on Airbnb, host guests for you, and look after everything: the filing of hotel taxes, payouts, and payment security”, Martin explains.

Following the summer when he originally tested the idea, Martin jumped on board the McGill Lean Startup Program. That’s our Fall incubator with a once per week commitment. In it, you’ll learn a systematic way of testing your business hypotheses, based on the Lean Startup methodology.

There, he soaked it all in: the networking, the collaborative environment, and most of all, the weekly pitch practice.

“I always felt I was a fairly confident presenter, but really class presentations are a whole different thing compared to presenting a business pitch where people are actively picking away at your idea while you talk”, Martin says. “That’s the kind of experience that makes you better. When I moved on to the Dobson Cup, I could really lean on the Lean Startup training.”

Excellent puns aside, Martin went on to win 1st place in the Small & Medium Enterprise Track of the McGill Dobson Cup 2017, hosted by National Bank.

Martin presenting at the Lean Startup final presentations in December of 2016.
School-Business conflicts, and a failproof alternative to dropping out

As students, you may be wondering whether or not your classroom presentations are preparing you for the real world. On the surface, yes. Dig deeper however, and there’s a fork in the road:

“In class, you can figure out what your professor is looking for by reading the syllabus”, Martin says. “In business pitches, you don’t know the people, their experience, their opinion, what they’re looking for, or what will impress them. You have to figure it out internally: you have to think about what’s most valuable in your business, and figure out how to make that clear.”

Within that time they’ll take me back, all my credits intact, as long as I can show them what I’ve been up to”

Another area that school and business often clash is time. When your business reaches a certain life stage, it demands more from you: more money, more effort, and more time. And when you get there, it becomes hard to keep up with other demands. You’ve got another fork in the road: Do you go full-time and drop out of school, or let the business die?

Whether it’s for personal or professional reasons, you can get up to 5 years to fly or fail. As PairUp reached the fork in the road, Martin took a break from his Marketing & Entrepreneurship major to build something real.

“Within that time they’ll take me back, all my credits intact, as long as I can show them what I’ve been up to”, he clarifies.

Martin at the Finals of the McGill Dobson Cup 2017.
How much time he’s putting into his business, and healthy habits amidst chaos

And how much time is he putting into the business now that he doesn’t have competing interests? Hint: He doesn’t have a 4-hour workweek.

“I don’t count hours. You just solve problems one at a time, and move on to the next one. If I had to give a number, it’s probably 60-80 hours a week”, he says. “Especially at the early stages of a startup, everything is inefficient, because you don’t have the money to make things efficient. And doing things that don’t scale takes a lot of time.”

1 cup of oats, 4 tablespoons of yogurt, a banana, a clementine, and an apple. Every single day.”

And when you’re doing things that take a lot of time, other priorities like your health have a way of falling by the wayside. But not Martin’s.

Often referred to as “the fit guy” during the Lean Startup Program, he has built a series of good habits that have allowed him to stay healthy while putting in serious work on his startup. Besides biking for transport, taking the stairs whenever possible, and going for weekend runs, Martin has been eating the same nourishing breakfast everyday for over 5 years.

Here’s the formula:

“1 cup of oats, 4 tablespoons of yogurt, a banana, a clementine, and an apple. Every single day.”

Whether it’s eating the same breakfast everyday or simplifying summer sublets so that you can relax, Martin has figured out how to make life just a little bit easier.

Leaving Montreal for the summer and don’t want to deal with the uncertainty and messiness of subletting? Head over to pairup.io to sign up, or to their FAQ section to learn more.

Editor’s Note: In this Spotlight, you’ll learn about how a business class he took in grade 11 pushed Management student Daniel Van Acker to join the team at CandyCutlery, which made it to the finals of the McGill Dobson Cup 2017. You’ll also learn about how to meet mentors, and some of the sacrifices you may have to make as an entrepreneur.

Before Daniel ever joined CandyCutlery, the original founders pitched at a conference called Y2. Daniel wasn’t even on their team, but he was watching.

“It was one of those one weekend things, and they ended up winning the contest”, Daniel explains. “They mentioned they were looking for more people to join their team. So I approached them afterward and put them in contact with my sister, who’s involved with food and that’s exactly what they were looking for.”

In other words, Daniel approached the winning team and added value to their lives – THAT’s what natural networking looks like.

Here was the team’s pitch, back in 2016:

﻿

The company does exactly what it sounds like. They make candy spoons. And candy shot glasses. And they’re completely biodegradable.

“So you can munch on them, or throw them away and they’re gone within a few days. It’s a novelty item – it’s cool to eat with an edible utensil, it’s not something you do everyday.”, Daniel says. “And since it’s reducing the amount of plastic we use, it’s sustainable.”

The team is currently focusing on a few key markets as they build momentum: catering for corporate events, ice cream shops and dessert shops. “It’s a way to enhance your eating experience, whether you’re a kid or an adult”, Daniel points out. “People are surprised by how tough the spoon is. One of the first things people try to do is break the spoon, and it’s not easy.”

CandyCutlery is currently focused on 3 key markets: catering for corporate events, ice cream shops, and dessert shops.
How to meet high-quality mentors that are relevant for you

Over the course of our conversation, I was intrigued by Daniel’s knowledge about the food industry. Considering he spends all his daytime hours studying management-related stuff, how does he learn about food?

Basically: by talking to people smarter than him, and by DOING.

“You learn a lot by doing, which is an inherent part of any business. But also, the mentors we have, and the food scientists on my team have been very helpful.”

And how did they meet their mentors?

“It’s often through connections and events like the McGill Dobson Cup, or even LinkedIn. You just have to approach them and ask – that’s the most important part”, Daniel explains. “Our CEO Lyn has always stressed this to us, and many of our most valued mentors are random people that we’ve messaged on LinkedIn with one or two mutual friends. It’s surprising how willing people are to help you if you just ask.”

If you’re familiar with Josh Kaufman’s (best-selling author of The Personal MBA) book, The First 20 Hours, you know that you can learn the bare basics of any skill in about 20 hours. Now let’s assume you believe (and correctly so) that any skill or set of skills can be learnt (as Anders Ericsson demonstrates in his book Peak), and that entrepreneurship is one of those sets of skills.

The next question becomes: How, when, and where did Daniel put in his first 20 hours of entrepreneurial skills practice, that allowed him to thrive at CandyCutlery? It was a low stakes environment perfect for deliberate practice: high school, where he learnt a major lesson about the real world.

You start to think you don’t need to do things with other people’s approval, and you don’t need to follow a strict path.”

Daniel went to a public high school in Guelph. And after an alum founded a business department there, he was able to choose from a selection of business courses including marketing and entrepreneurship.

“There was a class I took in grade 11 where you come up with an idea, then as a project you run a business throughout the semester”, Daniel explains.

“Mine wasn’t anything crazy – we made tie-dye socks and sold them at school events, but we made a profit at the end of the semester. It was interesting to see how it all worked and it made you think that if a class of grade 11s can make tie-dye socks and sell them for a profit, what else can you do?”

This is the exact pattern of thinking that we seek to encourage at the McGill Dobson Centre – once you run a few tests to understand what’s possible, your world begins to open up.

“You start to think you don’t need to do things with other people’s approval, and you don’t need to follow a strict path. You can just start doing things on your own and make things happen if you put in the effort.”

How to create time for your startup while in university

But where does a university student get the TIME to put in the effort?

How does student have time to run a business given all their other responsibilities? There’s no getting around it: you’re juggling a lot of balls. You’re expected to meet new people, adjust to a new city, learn to cook, get enough sleep, and do well in your courses.

And on this subject, Daniel says there are no shortcuts.

“You put your head down and you work. I’ve been fortunate enough to not have too many demanding classes at the same time, so I was able to ease in and continue to work on Candy Cutlery. I definitely don’t go out as much as some of my friends. And I try to take advantage of holidays to work.”

After 4 consecutive days of pitches in the Semi-Finals of the McGill Dobson Cup 2018 powered by National Bank, we’re excited to announce the 40 startup teams moving on to the FINALS on March 28, 2018.

Last week from February 20 to 23, 84 McGill teams pitched their startups to 32 judges who had the task of choosing the top ten Finalists for each Track: Health Sciences, Social Enterprise, Small & Medium Enterprise, and Innovation Driven Enterprise.

Given the nature of the startup competition, we recognize that it is quite likely that some of the teams not moving on to the Finals of the McGill Dobson Cup 2018 will go on to create successful companies.

For some of the teams that are at a later stage, you may want to consider applying to the upcoming McGill X-1 Accelerator program this summer. For those who are still exploring the early stages of their idea, the McGill Lean Startup Program in the Fall is also an option.

We wish all teams the best of luck in the next stage of the McGill Dobson Cup 2018!

2.Docplus: A revolution in medical booking. Online Booking. Fast and easy, day and night.

3.EBHnow: EBHnow is a website that offers easy, instant and free access to evidence-based healthcare information, through a catalogue of nine fully developed applications addressed clinical decisions. EBHnow makes evidence-based healthcare a reality.

4.Foodoc: A C2C telehealth platform that connects Canadian dietitians with clients throughout the world.

5. IntegOR: We are a multidisciplinary team of young professionals with disruptive ideas, aiming to maximize the capacity of the Canadian healthcare system to deliver care through improving efficiency amongst healthcare teams.

6. InVivo AI: InVivo AI is using artificial intelligence to streamline the development of new drugs. Our algorithms will empower pharmaceutical companies to bring therapies to market in less time and for less money than it takes today.

8. OstoMentor: OstoMentor is an all-in-one, personalized educational software designed to simplify the transition process for patients living with new stomas, to reduce medical complication rates, and to and improve patient satisfaction.

9. PHIRE: At PHIRE we are developing an application that empowers people to manage their medication through automated scheduling, drug alerts and real-time feedback, thereby reducing the risk of adverse drug events.

10.VitalTracer Ltd.: We are in the business of mobile health, personalized medicine and Home-care Health. We aim to create a convenient platform for those who have a need to track their vital signs.

1. Abil Design Inc.: Abil Design is a technology company that builds inclusive digital experiences. We strive to build platforms that serve the full range of human diversity with respect to ability and age.

2.Brique par brique: Brick by Brick is a social enterprise whose mission is to create affordable and dynamic living spaces for marginalized people. Brick by Brick achieves this ambitious objective by providing more privileged members our communities with secure and competitive investment products that transfer capital from those that have to those that don’t.

3.Canadian Students’ Nightline Association:A non-profit organization focused on helping make Canadian universities a better, happier place through mental health support services. We do this by offering help to students at night through a phone line. This is ensured by training quality volunteers in active listening skills and more.

5. HumaNuts (formerly Cajou): Our vision is to be the largest premium cashew processor and trader in Ivory Coast and to provide sustainable and attractive income opportunities to local farmers and their families.

6.Opportutoring: Opportutoring provides refugees with free one-to-one online English tutoring to open up their opportunities in their country of relocation.

8. Verde Hub: A communal hub that promotes, educates, and empowers sustainability through food, events, art, and collaboration for students and young professionals.

9. Viveau: Enabling access to higher quality drinking water: Viveau is an initiative aimed to improve the life and health of unprivileged populations lacking access to clean and safe drinking water.

10. Wiyaka Beauty: Wiyaka Beauty is a social enterprise transforming personal care products created by Indigenous workers into natural cosmetics that provide customers with cultural, spiritual and social connections to the Indigenous community.

Small & Medium Enterprise Track 2018 Finalists

Many thanks to our Small & Medium Enterprise Track judges who participated in the @mcgillu#DobsonCup yesterday!

2. DogR: An all in one mobile application that seeks to help dog owners having enough information and make them save their time while helping dogs enjoying more the dog park.

3.ENTR: Discover unique spaces and book everything you need to host the perfect event.

4. JPondE: JpondE is a food company that produces, processes and delivers African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) products mainly for African Cuisine in Canada. These catfish products are delivered fresh, smoked and dried, or mashed.

5. NightLoop: NightLoop is a crowdsourced news network of nightlife events in real-time, all through the eyes of students.

1. Aventa: For political campaigns, Aventa uses AI to predict political preferences and voting behaviour, and provide messaging and strategy that increases turnout for our client at the ballot box.

2. Avro AR:Avro AR helps maintenance and field service representatives increase their efficiency by providing them with hands-free state-of-the-art industrial augmented reality software, connecting them to company databases and remote support experts like never before.

3. BlueCiTech:BlueCiTech has developed a smart city platform to collect real-time data on the city’s environment, infrastructure, and activity to provide solutions that will improve quality of life.

4. Haply Robotics: Haply Robotics is a simulation company that is integrating the sensation of touch into our electronic devices. Their goal is to bring high-end simulation tools to the classroom.

6. Ori Technology: Ori Technology endeavours to maintain the protective capabilities of football helmets by signalling when a helmet’s air pockets have deflated to a level no longer optimal for head protection.

7. Spinyt Technologies Inc.: Spinyt allows restaurant owners to create flash deals to attract students to their restaurant taking advantage of the economics of supply and demand in real-time.

Since the launch of McGill Dobson Match on February 28th 2017, we took part in the creation of

dozens of startups. Born to reduce the communication gap between startups looking for team members and people looking for such opportunities, we designed a tool based on your feedback and focusing on enlarging your network

inside McGill. We believe with better exposure to different circles of expertise such as engineering, arts, business, medical or computer science and other, you would be able to add valuable members to your team and keep on improving.

Insights

All-time top 5 searched keywords:

Coders

Marketing

Business Strategy

Engineering

Web Design

This week’s top 5:

AI Wizard

Co-founder

Finance

Food

Cryptocurrency

Your Stories

Some of you wanted to share their story, and we were glad to hear back from you:

I was looking for passionate co-founders with business training or experience who would help me turn the project into a proper start-up. I have a background in community organizing and I was able to get a few colleagues with managerial and communication experience on board, however I knew it was important for us to find someone who was keen on start-ups from a business perspective. At the time, I was being mentored by someone at Dobson and he recommended to look into Dobson Match. I can’t remember if I found Theo or if he responded to our post, it was a long time ago. But we decided to meet on a rainy day way uptown near where Brick by Brick is developing its first project. Within a few minutes it was clear to me that Theo would be the missing founding member I was been looking for. He was positive and committed to the idea of creative power sharing and he through it was a marketable concept. The next day he sent me notes about what would become our digital marketing plan and slowly, over the year he took his place in the startup and helped transform it from a hair-brained scheme into a solid start-up with what is now almost a critical mass of early adopters.

Zike from ArtVenture,

(Small/Medium Enterprise)

My name is Zike Wu, founder of ArtVenture, a startup launched by Asia Pacific Art and Culture Association. We strive to develop a market intelligence tool for art collectors to make informed art investment decisions based on our quantitative financial model for artwork valuation.

Currently we have a high-calibre team of art history and finance students solely focused on further developing the product, but we needed software engineers to build an interactive platform.

ArtVenture was listed on Dobson Match, and through this amazing platform, we were able to connect with several talents and quickly find an outstanding matchie willing to join the team within a week!

Our startup, Dialysave, would not have progressed as much as is has without the Dobson Match. Dialysave was a new startup when we were seeking another team member, so we didn’t know how to find a student that would be just as motivated to work on our startup as we were. The platform was easy to navigate and — after a few days — several relevant students reached out. This is how we found Shawana, our main engineer who is now a co-founder!

Justin from SelfEmotion Inc.,

(Tech)

We are excited about Dobson Match’s potential as a matchmaker for our startup. Although we haven’t found the right match in terms of skill set for our startup, we have received many applications up to date. We have met with some inspiring students and alumni connected to McGill and it has been a really good experience. As we speak, we’re meeting with two people this week! Thanks for bringing passionate entrepreneurs together, Dobson Match!

On a final note,

TO: Startups who have contributed to McGill’s innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, matchies who have helped through long or short-term involvement and lastly reviewers who provided the necessary feedback for these companies to improve; you are Dobson Match’s success story.

Editor’s Note: On the 7th of February, we held a Startup Financials Workshop to get the McGill Dobson Cup teams versed in the Finances 101 that they’ll have to know to move forward to the Finals. The presentation was lead by Rabih Atallah – Senior Manager, Commercial Banking, SME Market (National Bank), as well as Anthony Ferrara – Senior Manager and Market Lead, Life sciences and Health, Business Banking. (National Bank)

Have a detailed breakdown of your cash flow

Why?

To evaluate your liquidity

To maximize the use of your cash

To calculate your burn rate

To ensure your ability to meet short-term obligations

To secure more financing

To evaluate whether your projections are accurate.

Here are some tips on maximizing your cash flow:

Delay the payment of your accounts payable.

Use a credit card to pay your liabilities; you win a month delay to pay the balance and make points to be cashed in.

Make sure to keep only the required inventory to support your clients, as inventory can become a liability.

Structure your employees’ compensation with a mix of salary and short-term bonuses.